PETALING JAYA, April 25 — The words “I can’t” don’t exist in little Sara Hinesley’s dictionary despite the fact that she was born without hands.

According to her third-grade teacher Cheryl Churilla, the 10-year-old has always been a determined go-getter who is always up for a challenge.

Her tenacity recently won her the 2019 Nicholas Maxim award for cursive handwriting, a competition that Sara initially entered on a whim.

She is now the first student from her school, St John’s Regional Catholic School in Maryland, to have won the award.

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The Washington Post reported Churilla describing her student as a “little rock star” who is not only good at handwriting but also excels in other areas of academia.

“She tackles absolutely everything you can throw at her, and she gives it her best,” she was quoted as saying.

Her mother Cathryn Hinesley said that Sara refuses to wear prosthetics or use tools that might make tasks easier, such as using scissors to cut paper.

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“She has this independent streak where she just knows that she can do it and she’ll figure out her own way,” Cathryn told The Washington Post.

“She is beautiful and strong and mighty just the way she is, and she just lives that way. She really does.”

The third-grade student from Maryland has learned ways to navigate everyday life on her own. — Screenshot from YouTube/WJZ
The third-grade student from Maryland has learned ways to navigate everyday life on her own. — Screenshot from YouTube/WJZ

Sara has learned how to write in English and Mandarin by gripping a pencil in between her arms and carefully focusing on the shapes and curves of each letter.

She’s also a budding artist and said that writing in cursive feels similar to drawing.

“I like the way the letters are formed. It’s kind of like art,” she told The Washington Post.

The young girl came to the United States four years ago from China to join her new family and at the time, she could already speak and write some words in Mandarin.

She then picked up English pretty quickly thanks to her sister Veronica, who is also 10 years old.

“We learned pretty quickly to trust her judgement and let her gauge how much she wants to do and then let her do it,” said Cathryn.

“That’s Sara. She moves through life in this way that you never really see her as having a disability because she has this can-do, I-can-tackle-anything attitude.”

In addition to a trophy, Sara will be receiving a US$500 (RM2,067) cash prize in June during the Nicholas Maxim awards ceremony.